Rounding off 2014

2014 has been a pioneering sort of year. Now that I think about it, each year should be and indeed has been a year of firsts. For there's always something new we have done that we have not done before.

I took up running earnestly for the first time. And wearable tech apps like Runkeeper and Strava help me want to keep up a good record. So far I've managed to run on 4 continents: Africa, (North) America, Asia and Europe, or more precisely in Victoria Falls, Washington DC, Halong/KL/Singapore and Barcelona respectively. I've also climbed up Wayna Picchu but my Velocitech altimeter-endowed watch never worked :-(

 I should not give anyone the wrong impression that I've become an uber athlete all of sudden, like some mid life crisis armchair sportsmen turned marathoners. No, I do this partly for health (I still rue my broken hand; though screwed back on, it's not quite the same) and partly for vanity for I don't want to exceed the 80kg limit in weight.

J fulfilled one of life's dreams, something I had aspired towards but didn't accomplish: he was recognised as one of the nation's top Scouts and conferred the President Scout Award by the President no less! This coming off a year of achievements including the Gold Medal in the 11th Geography Olympiad in Krakow and a character building hike with budding leaders from his college.

M had a momentous year too, being selected into leadership position in her school's peer support board, and asked to participate in the Geography Academy. For some reason, both kids are preternaturally inclined towards this subject. No wonder we enjoy traveling so much! She has also been active in sports and has a fine bunch of friends: her softball teammates and her chatty classmates. Yet, despite all their antics, M (and her friends) are serious girls and going into upper secondary next year, she has voluntarily decided to give up some of the more trivial social media apps like snapchat ans askfm voluntarily. Now, that is a first! And an act that is sure to bring a smile to every 21st century parent.

The real first is the project D undertook. To be precise, the project started in 2012 but it's in 2014 that most of the progress took place and it fell on her shoulders to take care of every detail in the building, from tile selection to window placement to ceiling design and appliance procurement. It also necessitated monthly, then bimonthly drives to Malacca. She figured out the timings to beat the traffic, but sometimes we get caught including coming a few days ago where we spent over 2 hours between the JB and Woodlands checkpoints.

At work, I've found equilibrium: when we're loving what we do and doing what we love. This state is important for peace of mind and it's been said that it's hard to achieve peace in the world when one doesn't have inner peace to start with.

My peace is not just with work but with the most high: Gloria in Excelsis Deo. He's blessed us with much and with these we have a responsibility to give back and to pay it forward. In a very insular way, we've repaid our parents by bringing all 4 of them to a place they've never been to and on a trip they have never experienced including camping in Zimbabwe! We are all looking forward to 2015 with great faith, hope and love!